pocketbook, these spaces include home gyms, yoga and meditation spaces, wine rooms, man-caves and shesheds and, perhaps, the revived media room for the big-screen experience. Many will also seek casitas, guest houses, or additional bedrooms for older parents who have moved in because of COVID-19. “Homes have become, and will continue to be, more multi-generational than ever before,” says Sumney.
Home office space. Photo courtesy Candelaria Design Associates
Enhanced audio- and video-conferencing equipment will provide better virtual meetings with employees working at home or in other company locations, Thielke says. Other healthful components will include automatically sanitized workstations; zero-touch bathroom faucets; voice-activated directories, building entries and elevators; and airpurification HEPA-filter and similar systems. “Siri hasn’t taken over the workplace yet,” he says with a smile, “but we do expect technology to have an increasing impact in our office spaces.”
THE NEW HOME ‘FLEXES’ With many of us working at home during COVID-19, we are looking closely at our living spaces. Are they functioning optimally for our lifestyles today and in the future? Will they provide the flexibility we will need during this crisis and when another occurs?
Depending on the owner’s
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The Mud Room, for instance, is becoming what he calls the “Package Receiving and Sanitizing Room,” comprising space for employees from companies such as Fed-Ex and Amazon, the dry cleaner, and the pizza and grocery delivery people for drop-off and pick-up. “We are designing spaces where delivery people can enter an intermediate space that is secured by electronic code that only allows them into this space. This allows the home owners’ deliveries to be out of the elements and in a space
Home gym design. Photo courtesy Candelaria Design Associates
“People are not spending money on traveling, so they are upgrading their homes or building ones that include the amenities they need,” says Brad Leavitt, president of A Finer Touch Construction, a Scottsdale-based luxury home builder and remodeler.
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“We are seeing a number of changes in the design and details of the homes we have both in design and under construction,” explains Mark B. Candelaria, AIA, founder and principal of Candelaria Design Associates, the multi-awardwinning luxury home architectural firm in Scottsdale.
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